1st Innovation Conference:

New impetus for the energy turnaround

[7/7/2014] Premiere for the Green Electricity Label Innovation Conference: At the two-day event in Heidelberg, representatives from business, science and associations explored the questions of what impetus needs to be given to the restructuring of energy suppliers.

The 1st Innovation Conference of the Green Electricity Label took place in Heidelberg from July 2 to 3, 2014. Anyone interested in current developments in the field of renewable energies had two good reasons to travel to Heidelberg last Wednesday (July 2, 2014). The green electricity certifier Grüner Strom Label not only celebrated its 15th anniversary, but also took this day as an opportunity to launch a new discussion platform. Around 60 guests from business, science and associations met for the premiere of the two-day innovation conference Energie Erneuerbar Gestalten. Rosa Hemmers, Chairwoman of the Green Electricity Label, found the right words for the objective of the event at the start: "We need courageous approaches. With this conference, we want to set impulses." He said that the small-scale debate that has so far permeated the political agenda and the media is counterproductive. Instead of focusing only on the costs of the energy turnaround, the conference should show how many opportunities exist, especially for small and medium-sized businesses. The city of Heidelberg is setting a good example here. Hans-Wolf Zirkwitz from the Office for Environmental Protection, Trade Inspection & Energy of the City of Heidelberg agreed. In recent years, he said, billions of euros have been invested in conventional power systems. In this respect, more transparency and balance in media reporting would be desirable. The Bahnstadt Heidelberg shows that investments in climate protection concepts can be worthwhile (we reported). Around half of the residential units have already been built, he said. "Sales are brisk," Zirkwitz said. Nevertheless, he said, the city must continue to become more efficient.

In his presentation, Klaus Brunsmeier, Deputy Chairman at the Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland (BUND), referred to the important role played by citizens and energy cooperatives in implementing climate protection measures. The citizens "take it into their own hands," Brunsmeier said. It is almost irrelevant what measures and regulations are adopted by politicians. Because people are less interested in returns. Nevertheless, he said, citizen energy is massively endangered by the recent reform of the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG). "We have to fight to prevent tenders for renewable energy plants," Brunsmeier said. "The energy transition can only succeed with the citizens."

From supplier to service provider

Purely technical aspects were the focus at the beginning of the first block of topics. Reinhard Mackensen from the Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy and Energy Systems IWES asked himself how ready virtual power plants are for practical use. To this end, he provided insights into the results of several research projects in recent years, including that of the Combined Cycle Power Plant 2 (we reported). He said that the project shows that virtual power plants can ensure grid stability in a fully renewable power supply. Nevertheless, he said, there is still a great need for research. Thomas E. Banning, CEO of green power and biogas provider Naturstrom, then explained the role of utilities in a market design increasingly dominated by direct marketing and the spot market. Utilities would have to rethink. Support projects would have to become supply power plants, and energy suppliers would have to become energy service providers. It would no longer be a matter of merely providing electricity, but also of buying it from customers - in the case of self-generation - when required. Michael Teigeler, Managing Director of Stadtwerke Heidelberg, focused on new marketing concepts. He used the Energy Concept 2020 to illustrate how citizens can be involved in climate protection projects. For example, a new heat storage facility is planned for the Heidelberg-Pfaffengrund energy park, which could replace the old gas storage facility as the city's trademark.

In the second part of the event, "Innovative Projects from Green Electricity Certification" were presented. Ingo Jeromin from the company Mainova made the start. He used the INES smart grid project to illustrate how the utilization of low-voltage grids can be measured and regulated using just a few sensors, and how this can be used to counteract the massive expansion of the grid in many places. The Heidelberg energy cooperative, meanwhile, presented a new direct consumption concept in which energy cooperatives take on the role of energy supplier and make electricity from the solar roof available to tenants. The advantage: Despite a second supplier, the tenant continues to receive only one bill. Additional grid fees could also be avoided.

Shapers and Defacers of the Energy Transition

The last block dealt with the "shapers of the energy transition outside politics". Dieter Brübach, member of the board of the German Association for Environmentally Conscious Management (B.A.U.M.), discussed the many players such as municipal utilities, associations and foundations and highlighted their particular commitment. But citizens are also important. They account for a large part of the investments in renewable energies. There are around 700 energy cooperatives in Germany.

The concluding panel discussion of the 1st Innovation Conference in Heidelberg was very intensive. The concluding panel discussion, in which Thomas E. Banning was joined by Aribert Peters, Chairman of the Association of Energy Consumers, among others, was very intense. Peters found clear words on the current state of energy policy. The election promise that Sigmar Gabriel (SPD) had made to the voters had been broken, he said. "The EEG shows that something is wrong with our democracy," Peters said. Banning did not want to go quite that far, but agreed that energy policy in Germany was controlled by only a small circle of people and was passed on through the media. "You have to understand the game behind the political stage." That's why mobilizing citizens is so important, Banning said. In response to the moderator's question about how it would be possible to get citizens even more involved in climate protection and the energy transition, Peters said, "We need an impetus. The new EEG is perhaps that impulse - for better or worse."

Marc Tosenberger

_{With the kind support of stadt+werk.
Source: K21 media AG: Neue Impulse für die Energiewende; 07.07.2014.
www.stadt-und-werk.de/meldung_19246}